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Want to save money and help the planet at the same time? Then take a look at some of the gadgets
and appliances in your house.

By turning off, adjusting or swapping out some of the devices in your house, you might save
hundreds of dollars a year while reducing your carbon footprint.

I’ve been thinking a lot about conservation and energy-efficiency lately. I’ve got a 60-year-old
house with some fairly old appliances and equipment. One of our toilets probably is as old as the
house. The water heater is more than 25 years old. At about 8 years old, our clothes washer is new
by comparison, but it’s a top-loading model that guzzles water and electricity.

Unfortunately, I can’t afford to replace everything, so I’ve been trying to figure out what
changes might provide the most bang for the buck. Energy experts I spoke to offered good
suggestions that save lots of money, often without big upfront costs.

In fact, you can save a good deal of money without spending a cent by adjusting the settings on
some of your gadgets and other electronics equipment. Televisions, for example, are often set to
look extra-bright so they stand out in showrooms. By turning down the brightness, you can save
money.

The same is true with computers. Desktop computers in particular often use 60 watts or more.
That might not sound like a lot, but it can add up if the computer is left on and in active mode 24
hours a day. By allowing your computer to go to sleep when it’s not being used, its power
consumption can drop to 2 watts or less.

Game consoles, like computers, are often left on, sometimes inadvertently.
Consumer Reports estimates that console owners can save more than $100 a year by just
turning the devices off when they are not in use.

In some cases, though, you’ll need to buy new equipment to see savings in power and money. The
best place to start, experts say, is with your light bulbs. Although power-sipping compact
fluorescent bulbs have been on the market for decades, and LEDs have become more popular recently,
about 70 percent of U.S. light sockets still have power-hogging incandescent bulbs in them,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s a huge target for savings because
lighting accounts for about 12 percent of the average consumer’s electrical bill and the newer
bulbs use less than 30 percent of the energy consumed by incandescents.

You now can find CFLs for as little as a dollar a bulb and LEDs for less than $10 a bulb. Just
by replacing your five most-frequently used bulbs, you can save about $75 a year, according to the
EPA.

Another prime candidate for energy and money savings is your refrigerator. Compared with older
models, newer ones use as little as half the electricity, said Noah Horowitz, a senior scientist at
the Natural Resources Defense Council. Depending on the size and age of your fridge, you could save
well over $1,000 within five years by swapping it out for a newer model, according to EPA
estimates.

The U.S. government’s Energy Star program has an online calculator that can help you estimate
how much you could save. Users plug in the style and approximate size and age of their fridge, and
the service estimates how much less a new model would cost to operate.

If you don’t have the money to buy a new fridge, you still might save money. About a quarter of
American homes have a second refrigerator, according to the EPA.

Because those appliances are typically located in uninsulated garages or basements, they have to
work that much harder to stay cool in hot summers and can cost hundreds of dollars a year to run.
By plugging in that second fridge only when it’s absolutely needed — say, right before your
Thanksgiving feast or other big occasions — you can save $250 a year, the EPA says.

One other big appliance to consider replacing is your washing machine. Older models,
particularly top-loading ones that are 7 or more years old, use two to three times as much energy
and water as newer, front-loading ones, Horowitz said.
Consumer Reports estimates that today’s high-efficiency washers can cost $1,400 less to
run over 10 years than the least-efficient models.

Since our fridge is only

3 years old, and I’ve already swapped out most of our light bulbs, that’s what I’m likely to
target next. Looks like it’s time to go shopping.

Troy Wolverton is a technology columnist for the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News.